The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the 2027 general elections will not be a typical political contest but a direct face-off between President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian people struggling with harsh economic realities.
Speaking on Thursday during the presentation of the Certificate of Return to Ezenwafor Jude, the party’s candidate for the Anambra governorship election, PDP Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, emphasized that the next general election transcends political titles and affiliations.
“This election in 2027 is not about how many governors you have or how many leaders,” Damagum said. “It’s about Tinubu and Nigerians. The ordinary man is feeling the pain, and the decision is his.”
He stressed that the hardship currently experienced by Nigerians under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is not coincidental but a result of deliberate policy choices.
“So I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that it is their election. It is APC versus Nigerians. It’s not APC versus any governor or senator or anything but APC versus Nigerians,” he added. “I want to urge all of us to close ranks and rescue ourselves from this hardship that is inflicted on us by design.”
Damagum also addressed the recent high-profile defections from the PDP in Delta State. On Wednesday, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor Ifeanyi Okowa, and several cabinet members officially left the PDP to join the APC, a move that has triggered political reactions nationwide.
Describing the defection as disappointing, Damagum said, “It’s very sad and unfortunate because to me, if there’s any state that should think that way, not Delta, because the party is very magnanimous.”
He expressed dismay that despite the PDP’s long-standing support for Delta State—including Okowa’s emergence as the party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections—the leadership in the state still chose to walk away.
“I thank God that in their message, they didn’t say that the party did anything wrong to them other than good,” he noted, pointing out that the PDP had consistently backed the political aspirations of leaders in the state over the years.
